2024 Ronsard Sancerre La Pleiade Loire Valley France

2024 Ronsard Sancerre La Pleiade Loire Valley France

with No Comment $30-$40FranceKevin VogtSancerre

Ronsard

Sancerre La Pléiade
Loire Valley, France 2024

2024 Ronsard Sancerre La Pleiade Loire Valley France

The La Pléiade Sancerre opens with the pristine radiance that only the Loire’s greatest vineyards can summon. A blend drawn from celebrated plots such as Chêne Marchand, Les Monts Damnés, Chasseignes, and Les Deserts, La Pléiade captures the valley’s dual nature: the cool, stony edges of its Kimmeridgian slopes and the gentle, sunlit contours of its clay-rich parcels.

What sets La Pléiade apart is the seamless way these sites come together in the glass. The limestone parcels drive a spine of mineral energy, while the clay slopes offer a rounder, more generous register, giving the wine both tension and veiled amplitude. It’s a Sauvignon Blanc that feels both effortless and profound, showcasing its terroir with striking precision.

Ronsard’s minimalist touch in the cellar allows this interplay of soils to shine without distraction. Stainless-steel fermentation keeps the profile clean and vivid, while gentle clarification protects the wine’s natural texture. La Pléiade speaks in its own voice, delivering a purity that honors both the vineyards and the heritage of Sancerre.

Ronsard
Sancerre La Pléiade
Loire Valley, France 2024

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“The Ronsard 2024 Sancerre ‘La Pleiade’ opens with fresh aromas of pink grapefruit, lemon zest, white pepper, and a saline, flinty minerality. On the palate, the wine is pure and refreshing, with playful citrus notes, elderflower and white blossoms, crisp tension, and a linear focus. The minerality is precise, recalling wet stone and chalk, while the texture is both delicate and refined. The wine’s balance is vibrant yet harmonious, with a clean, mouthwatering essence that layers notes of crisp, mineral-driven flavors into an absolutely compelling finish.”

95 Points

2023 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon One Liters Napa Valley

260116 2023 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon One Liters Napa Valley

with No Comment $80-$90Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

Caymus

Cabernet Sauvignon
One Liters 2023
Napa Valley

2023 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon One Liters Napa Valley

Few names in Napa Valley command the same immediate recognition as Caymus, and the 2023 Napa Cabernet reaffirms why. Shaped by more than five decades of family stewardship, this wine arrives with a confidence that only time can earn. It reflects a philosophy built on consistency, intuition, and a belief in Napa Valley’s capacity to produce Cabernet of unmistakable richness and presence.

That confidence is rooted in a lineage that began in 1971, when the Wagner family set out to craft Cabernet that captured the valley’s character with purpose. Generations of hands-on experience have refined that vision, sharpening decisions around vineyard selection, harvest timing, and balance. The 2023 vintage carries that accumulated wisdom, translating tradition into a wine that feels both instantly recognizable and freshly composed.

Harvested at peak maturity, the 2023 release delivers the signature richness that defines the Caymus style. Full-bodied and expressive, it unfolds with depth and assurance, honoring more than half a century of dedication while continuing to capture the bold, sunlit spirit of Napa Valley. This is not simply a vintage, but a continuation of a story that has secured its place among Napa’s most enduring classics.

Caymus
Cabernet Sauvignon
One Liters 2023
Napa Valley
Retails at: $110

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“This clear and dark ruby red colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Caymus opens with a shy black licorice and cherry-cola bouquet with hints of tobacco leaf, violet, and chocolate. On the palate, this wine is full bodied with integrated medium plus acidity. The mouthfeel is balanced, round, smooth, and a little lush. The flavor profile is an extracted black cherry and cedar blend with notes of cola and licorice. We also detected hints of toffee, clove, and menthol. The finish displays friendly and fine-grained tannins that linger nicely. We would pair this Cab with a beef bourguignon or with a pan-seared duck breast. Enjoy”

93 Points

2014 Chateau Gazin Pomerol Bordeaux France

260115 2014 Chateau Gazin Pomerol Bordeaux France

with No Comment $100 and overBordeauxBordeauxFranceKevin Vogt

Château Gazin

Pomerol 2014
Bordeaux, France

2014 Chateau Gazin Pomerol Bordeaux France

Greatness in Pomerol is often measured in meters, not miles. Château Gazin stands beside Pétrus on the revered Pomerol plateau, occupying one of the appellation’s most privileged positions. Its vineyard stretches across a rare, single contiguous parcel on the high terrace, a setting long associated with Pomerol’s most profound expressions of Merlot.

Beneath the vines lies a complex mosaic of blue and green clays layered with gravel and iron-rich deposits, a terroir synonymous with Pomerol’s most age-worthy wines. These soils provide both structure and natural balance, regulating water supply and sustaining the vines through variable seasons. In 2014, this advantage proved decisive, allowing the fruit to ripen with freshness, clarity, and poise.

Now with a decade in bottle, the 2014 Château Gazin is entering a particularly expressive phase. The wine shows depth without heaviness, its structure softened into a supple, seamless frame while retaining the freshness that defines great Pomerol. It is generous yet composed, offering immediate pleasure alongside the promise of continued evolution.

Château Gazin
Pomerol 2014
Bordeaux, France

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“The soy-sauce and savory aromas really make this stand out, but behind it are some very nice fruit and elegant tannins. This is a very well-made modern Pomerol with a lot of potential that needs some time to reveal its full class. Give it five or six years of bottle age.”

95 Points

2023 Luli Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

260114 2023 Luli Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtMontereyPinot NoirSanta Lucia HighlandsUSA

Luli

Pinot Noir 2023
Santa Lucia Highlands

2023 Luli Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

Luli’s 2023 Pinot Noir exceeds expectations, delivering remarkable pedigree at a price that feels almost improbable. It offers a level of clarity, balance, and authenticity that many costlier bottles struggle to match. This is not value born of compromise, but value earned through intention, precision, and an unwavering respect for place.

Set along the windswept slopes of the Santa Lucia Highlands, the wine draws its character from a cool, coastal climate shaped by fog-laced mornings, steady ocean breezes, and extended growing seasons. These conditions naturally favor freshness and structure, allowing the fruit to emerge with definition and lift. The result is a Pinot Noir that feels vibrant and composed, carrying depth with ease rather than weight.

That sense of composure is reinforced by a hands-on approach in both vineyard and cellar. Low yields, meticulous sorting, and native fermentations allow the fruit to speak clearly, while small-lot vinification preserves nuance and texture. By forgoing fining and filtration, the wine retains its natural energy, resulting in a Pinot Noir that is pure, expressive, and unmistakably authentic.

Luli
Pinot Noir 2023
Santa Lucia Highlands

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“Candied cherry and raspberry compote aromas are very fresh and accessible on the nose of this bottling, which also shows earthier hints of soil and bark. The palate is zippy with acidity that shines through the black cherry, star anise and turned loam flavors.”

94 Points

2021 Sixteen by Twenty Chardonnay Sonoma Coast

2021 Sixteen by Twenty Chardonnay Sonoma Coast

with No Comment $30 and underChardonnayKevin VogtSonomaSonoma CoastUSA

Sixteen by Twenty

Chardonnay 2021
Sonoma Coast

2021 Sixteen by Twenty Chardonnay Sonoma Coast

Sixteen by Twenty represents a modern vision of California Chardonnay, one rooted in balance rather than excess. Its name reflects a philosophy borrowed from fine art, where proportion and restraint define true beauty. This mindset carries through every stage of winemaking, resulting in a wine that feels polished, thoughtful, and effortlessly refined.

The 2021 vintage showcases the Sonoma Coast at its most expressive. Sourced from two cool, windswept vineyard sites, the blend combines Old Wente’s richness and aromatic complexity with the tension and precision of Clone 6. The result is a Chardonnay that feels both generous and controlled.

Eleven months in French oak lend subtle structure and texture, enhancing the wine without dominating it. The finish is persistent and balanced, carrying the wine’s natural energy through a long, graceful close that invites another sip.

Sixteen by Twenty
Chardonnay 2021
Sonoma Coast
Retails at: $60

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“The 16X20 2021 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay introduces coastal freshness with opulent California Fruit, featuring flavors of Meyer lemon, golden apples, nectarine, crushed stone, and a subtle thread of vanilla bean and butterscotch. On the palate, the wine has a vibrant edge balanced by rich flavors of ripe orchard fruit, a saline edge, lemon curd, and hazelnut. Playful and expressive, this wine exemplifies the refinement and energy of the Sonoma Coast.”

94 Points

2021 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour

2021 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaRutherfordUSA

Beaulieu Vineyard

Cabernet Sauvignon
Georges de Latour
Private Reserve
Napa Valley 2021

2021 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour

With consistency and restraint, Beaulieu Vineyards Georges de Latour Private Reserve helped shape the very identity of Napa Valley and remains one of its most enduring benchmarks. First produced in 1936, it is a living record of the region’s evolution, proving that true greatness is not driven by trends, but earned through decades of disciplined craftsmanship and vision.

The 2021 vintage draws its strength from the western bench of Rutherford, sourced exclusively from BV Ranches No. 1 and No. 2, vineyards first planted by Georges de Latour in the early 1900s. These historic sites sit on well-draining alluvial fan soils that naturally limit vigor and concentrate flavor, producing Cabernet Sauvignon of depth, structure, and unmistakable Rutherford character.

The 2021 vintage affirmed its place among Napa’s elite when it was ranked #2 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2024 and earned multiple 98-point scores from leading critics. These accolades are not departures from history, but confirmations of it, reinforcing Georges de Latour as a wine that continues to set the standard for what great Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon can achieve.

Beaulieu Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Georges de Latour
Private Reserve
Napa Valley 2021
Retails at: $180

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“Lastly, the flagship 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Georges De Latour Private Reserve is in the same ballpark as the 2019 and is an incredibly elegant yet concentrated 2021 that does everything right. Purple-hued, with ample cassis, wild sage, graphite, and darker chocolate-like aromatics, it picks up a Graves-like gravelly earth character with air and is full-bodied, has ripe, polished tannins, beautiful overall balance, and a great finish. As with many of the top 2021s, it’s a touch reserved and closed and needs 4-5 years of bottle age, but will drink well for 30 years.”

98+ Points

2023 Admire by Dan Kosta Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

2023 Admire by Dan Kosta Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

with No Comment $30-$40Kevin VogtNapaPinot NoirSonoma CoastUSA

Admire

by Dan Kosta
Pinot Noir 2023
Sonoma Coast

2023 Admire by Dan Kosta Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

When Dan Kosta turns his attention to Pinot Noir, it’s never casual. The 2023 Admire distills decades of insight into a focused wine with purpose, where coastal freshness meets California generosity. This is not a departure from the past, but a measured evolution, shaped by experience and guided by a balanced, measured approach.

With Admire, the intent drives what matters most. Launched in 2019, Dan’s new family of brands represents a deliberate return to the essentials of Pinot Noir, favoring balance, site expression, and natural energy. It is a label built on deep respect for the grape, informed by a lifetime spent understanding how precision, patience, and place converge in the glass.

Sourced from cool, ocean-influenced vineyards, the 2023 vintage is vibrant and lifted, driven by natural acidity and a sense of immediacy that defines the Sonoma Coast. Nine months of maturation in French oak (30% new) adds subtle structure and polish, lending depth without obscuring purity. Expressive from the first pour yet capable of evolving gracefully over three to five years, this Pinot Noir delivers pleasure now while rewarding those willing to wait.

Admire
by Dan Kosta
Pinot Noir 2023
Sonoma Coast

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“The Admire Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2023 is a brilliant expression of the region’s character. Its nose is a fragrant bouquet of red cherries, baking spices, daisy petals, and tangerine zest, while the palate delivers a lively dance of bright red plums, tart cherries, and a touch of cola. The wine’s classic Sonoma Coast minerality and fresh acidity create a beautifully balanced profile that lingers on the finish. While it shares the same 94-point rating I gave its riper 2022 counterpart, this vintage offers a distinct charm with its brighter, fresher fruit and enduring concentration.”

94 Points

2021 Buoncristiani O.P.C. Proprietary Red Blend Napa Valley

2021 Buoncristiani O.P.C. Proprietary Red Blend Napa Valley

with No Comment $40-$50Kevin VogtNapaProprietary RedUSA

Buoncristiani O.P.C.

Proprietary Red Blend
Napa Valley 2021

2021 Buoncristiani O.P.C. Proprietary Red Blend Napa Valley

The 2021 Buoncristiani O.P.C. does not attempt to define Napa Valley with a single stroke. Instead, it captures the region as a layered composition, where power, nuance, and polish coexist in careful proportion. Built around Cabernet and enriched by Malbec, Syrah, and Merlot, the wine presents Napa not as excess, but as harmony shaped by intention.

That sense of harmony reflects the Buoncristiani brothers’ deep-rooted relationship with Napa Valley. Growing up immersed in the region’s vineyards, they developed an intuitive understanding of how site, variety, and vintage intersect. The 2021 O.P.C. draws from that lived experience, translating familiarity with the land into a wine with scintillating confidence.

That perspective reveals itself in the wine’s effortless composure. The 2021 O.P.C. carries the Buoncristiani signature of concentration balanced by elegance, a style refined over more than twenty-five years of winemaking. Each vineyard component contributes structure and intensity, yet the wine never feels assembled. Instead, it flows as a complete and confident expression of place.

Buoncristiani O.P.C.
Proprietary Red Blend
Napa Valley 2021
Retails at: $75

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“The 2021 Red Wine O.P.C., Buoncristiani’s blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah and Merlot, is superb. Another rich wine in this range, the 2021 hits the palate with dense dark fruit, chocolate, graphite, leather, spice, plum and lavender. This rich, inky wine will delight Buoncristiani fans.”

95 Points

2022 Grand Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

2022 Grand Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtMt VeederNapaUSA

Grand Napa

Cabernet Sauvignon
Mt. Veeder 2022

2022 Grand Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

There is no blending away the truth of Mt. Veeder in Grand Napa’s 2022, crafted entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon. Drawn from a single, high-elevation site, it presents the variety in its most honest form: firm, focused, and deeply expressive of place. The mountain’s influence is immediate, revealed through a firm grip, depth, and a measured restraint that resists easy generosity.

Grown at elevations above 1,500 feet, the vineyard’s cooler climate and well-drained mountain soils shape a wine defined by precision and structure. Ripening unfolds slowly here, preserving natural balance while concentrating flavor and form. The result is a Cabernet with clarity and inner strength, one that reflects the discipline of its environment rather than the breadth of the valley floor.

Time in French oak brings cohesion without compromise, shaping the 2022 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon with focused intent. The texture is refined, the tannins composed, and the finish long and deliberate, each element settling into place with confidence. For those drawn to authenticity, site expression, and the promise of graceful evolution, this is a compelling expression of Mt. Veeder at its most assured.

Grand Napa
Cabernet Sauvignon
Mt. Veeder 2022
Retails at: $135

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“Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder starts with notes of dried Provence herbs, tilled soil, and fresh black plums slowly emerging from the glass, giving way to a core of red currant jelly, graphite, and Morello cherries. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound with crunchy red and black fruit layers, supported by grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing with a cheeky herbal lift.”

94 Points

2022 Charly Nicolle Premier Cru Chablis Les Fourneaux Burgundy

2022 Charly Nicolle Premier Cru Chablis Les Fourneaux Burgundy

with No Comment $40-$50BurgandyChablisFranceKevin Vogt

Charly Nicolle

Premier Cru Chablis
Les Fourneaux 2022
Burgundy, France

2022 Charly Nicolle Premier Cru Chablis Les Fourneaux Burgundy

From one of Chablis’ most compelling Premier Cru sites, Charly Nicolle’s Les Fourneaux captures the rare balance of energy and substance that defines this sun-favored hillside. Les Fourneaux is a place of natural intensity, its warmer exposition lending depth and breadth to Chardonnay while preserving the tension that makes Chablis unmistakable.

In the cellar, Nicolle favors clarity over ornament. Fermented in stainless steel with full malolactic conversion and extended lees contact, the wine gains texture and breadth without losing definition. This approach allows the vineyard’s natural authority to remain intact, shaping a Chardonnay that feels layered yet weightless, with focus drawn tightly around its mineral core.

Sourced from the Morein, La Côte, and Pégirot lieux-dits within Les Fourneaux, the fruit comes from 50-60 year old vines, rooted in classic clay and limestone soils. That maturity brings composure and depth, allowing the wine to linger with persistence rather than force. The finish feels resolved and confident, leaving an impression of harmony that reflects both the vineyard’s character and Nicolle’s restraint.

Charly Nicolle
Premier Cru Chablis
Les Fourneaux 2022
Burgundy, France

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“The Domaine Charly Nicolle 2022 Chablis 1er Cru Les Fourneaux opens with an elegant, aromatic profile with delicate white flowers, crushed sea shells, chalky minerality, crisp green and golden apples, lemon curd, and hints of grapefruit complemented by subtle nuances of fresh cream. On the palate, the wine is silky yet vibrant with bright acidity and flavors of orchard fruit and citrus zest, and a limestone-driven minerality. The finish is long and refined, and is a perfect wine for immediate pleasure, yet has a graceful aging potential.”

95 Points